On a day when the Liberals wanted to tout their plans to hire more nurses and reduce surgical wait times, Dalton McGuinty got a pointed rebuff Wednesday from a terminally ill cancer patient who upbraided the Liberal leader for refusing to fund certain new cancer drugs.
During a Liberal campaign visit to an Ottawa hospital, patient Mike Brady refused to shake McGuinty's outstretched hand, telling him he has cancer and "you're not helping any."
"That's not true," McGuinty replied, without inquiring further, before continuing his tour.
Brady, who suffers from stage four colon cancer which has spread to his lungs and liver, said McGuinty has a lot of nerve to court cancer patients when the Ontario government doesn't fund the kind of cancer drugs available in other provinces and in the United States.
"His gang are holding up things that are available," said the 63-year-old Ottawa man, who doesn't expect to live to see next summer.
"I'm running out of time.… I don't have the money to spend $60,000 on drugs in the United States that I need. I'm not very happy with the kind of service that we're getting."
After his tour, McGuinty bristled at questions about why he didn't spend time talking to Brady about his concerns.
McGuinty said he visited with other cancer patients on his tour behind closed doors, adding the encounter with Brady reminded him of how personal health care is to patients and their families.
"We've all had some connection with somebody in the family who's been affected by cancer," he said. "From that gentleman's perspective, more needs to be done. And he's right. He's right."
Ontario continues to rely on the advice of medical experts to recommend which new drugs to pay for, McGuinty said as he simultaneously attacked Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory.
"We can't do more if we take $3 billion out of health care," McGuinty said of Tory's plan to phase out the $2.6 billion health tax. "We have to continue to make investments."
Ontario doubled cancer drug budget: aides
Senior aides later said Ontario has added 12 new drugs to the public system since last year and has doubled the budget for cancer drugs to $176 million this year from $62 million in 2003. Even though McGuinty didn't ask Brady's name, he later invoked it at a Liberal barbecue in an Ottawa suburb as proof the Liberals should be re-elected.
"Today at the hospital, I was there and I met a gentleman by the name of Mr. Brady," McGuinty told the backyard crowd of about 75 supporters. "He reminded me of something … in a stark way, which is there is still more to do."
The confrontation came as a cancer coalition urged all political leaders to commit to funding 24 new intravenous cancer drugs approved by Health Canada. The group, launched by the Ontario Citizens Cancer Coalition and Canada's Association for the Fifty-Plus (CARP), said Ontario ranks last among the provinces when it comes to funding newer cancer drugs and PET scan imaging.
"We're not coming with some new drug out of left field … we're talking drugs that have already been approved by Health Canada and have already been paid for in other provinces," said CARP spokesman David Cravit.
"We don't understand why, if you live in Ontario, you have to be out of luck if you have cancer, which is the way it is now."
The Ontario election is on Oct. 10.
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Ontario Votes 2007 »
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- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
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District Profiles
More Ontario Votes Headlines »
- McGuinty wins massive majority, Tory loses seat
- Dalton McGuinty won a second majority government for the Liberals in Ontario on Wednesday night, a triumph for a party that earlier expressed fears of a drop to minority status.
- Ontario rejects electoral reform in referendum
- Ontario voters have rejected a proposed electoral reform that would have seen some provincial legislators chosen based on a party's share of the popular vote, results showed Thursday.
- Ontario voter turnout a record low
- The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in Wednesday's Ontario election hit an all-time low despite changes introduced in an effort to boost turnout.
- Ont. Green party scores 8 per cent of vote
- No Green party candidates made it to the Ontario legislature in Wednesday's election, but that defeat was sweetened by a swell in their share of the popular vote, which more than doubled.
- McGuinty only leader not facing leadership questions
- Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty won re-election in Ottawa South and NDP Leader Howard Hampton again won his northern Ontario riding of Kenora-Rainy River. PC Leader John Tory was defeated.
